State authorities must pay prescribed remuneration for Registrar services actually rendered, despite delayed retrospective resignation acceptance.

The applicant was appointed as a Medical Officer in the J&K Health Department pursuant to Government Order No. 333-HME of 2018 dated 29 May 2018 and was posted at Emergency Hospital, Batote.

After completing his postgraduate qualification, he sought to participate in the selection process for the post of Registrar in Dermatology at Government Medical College, Jammu. As he was still on probation and was not issued an NOC, he tendered his resignation from the post of Medical Officer on 23 July 2019.

The applicant was selected as Registrar and was permitted to join Government Medical College, Jammu on 8 August 2019. He submitted his joining report and thereafter performed duties in the Department of Dermatology.

However, his remuneration was not released because the respondents treated him as a non-PSC candidate pending verification of his antecedents and confirmation of acceptance of his resignation.

During the pendency of the Original Application, the respondents obtained vigilance clearance and, by Government Order No. 06-JK(HME) of 2023 dated 2 January 2023, terminated the applicant’s probation and discharged him from service with retrospective effect from 23 July 2019.

1. Whether the applicant’s resignation/discharge from the post of Medical Officer was required to be treated as effective from 23 July 2019, and whether he could thereafter be treated as an in-service Medical Officer?

2. Whether the applicant was entitled to remuneration for the services actually rendered by him as a Registrar in Government Medical College, Jammu, despite the delayed acceptance of his resignation?

3. Whether the unpaid remuneration was liable to carry interest, and if so, at what rate?

The Tribunal exercised jurisdiction under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

It applied the principle that a public employer which permits an individual to join and perform duties cannot withhold the remuneration legitimately payable for work actually performed, particularly when the individual was treated as a non-PSC/open-market appointee.

The Tribunal further applied the principle that the State must act as a model employer and that administrative delay, not attributable to the employee, cannot be used to deprive him of earned remuneration.

The retrospective discharge order dated 2 January 2023 was treated as determinative of the applicant’s service status from 23 July 2019.

The Tribunal held that the prayer for acceptance of resignation had substantially been satisfied because the respondents themselves discharged the applicant from service with effect from 23 July 2019, the date on which he had tendered his resignation.

Consequently, he could not be treated as an in-service Medical Officer after that date. However, this retrospective discharge did not extinguish his separate claim for payment for Registrarship.

The record showed that Government Medical College, Jammu permitted him to join, accepted his joining report, and allowed him to discharge duties as Registrar.

Since the respondents had treated him as a non-PSC candidate and had actually availed themselves of his services, they were required to pay the consolidated remuneration applicable to an open-market/non-PSC Registrar.

The administrative delay in processing the resignation and obtaining vigilance clearance could not prejudice the applicant, particularly when there was no material showing that the delay was attributable to him.

Given the prolonged withholding of remuneration for services already rendered, the Tribunal considered interest appropriate and fixed it at 6% per annum.

The applicant’s discharge from the J&K Health and Family Welfare (Gazetted) Services with effect from 23 July 2019 was treated as final, and he was held not liable to be treated as an in-service Medical Officer for any period thereafter.

Respondent No. 3 was directed to verify the period during which the applicant actually worked as Registrar from his joining on 8 August 2019 and to calculate and release the consolidated remuneration admissible to a non-PSC/open-market Registrar for that period.

The arrears were directed to carry simple interest at 6% per annum from the date each monthly payment became due until actual payment.

The entire exercise was to be completed within 12 weeks from receipt of the certified order.

The relief was expressly limited to remuneration for Registrarship and did not include salary as Medical Officer after 23 July 2019.

No order as to costs was made.